Tragedy strikes a small town

By now you probably know that a Dexter teenager died Tuesday from injuries he suffered in a car crash outside Dexter High School.
The death of 16-year-old Tyler Steffey was a shock to the school system and to the community as a whole.
It is always difficult to see something like this happen at an otherwise joyful time of year.
Compounding the pain of his loss is the injuries his two companions suffered when the car they were in slid off Parker Road into a stand of trees near the high school entrance.
News travels fast in a small town, especially bad news like this.
I reported the breaking news Tuesday on our Web site, and readers will be able to see the story and photos in Thursday’s print edition of the newspaper.
It is still too early to say exactly what caused the accident, but I will follow up with the sheriff’s department and the school district on questions that have been raised.
Our office has already heard speculation on the cause and why the three teens were out of school at mid-morning, but I operate on facts, not rumor and innuendo.
To do otherwise would add unnecessarily to the pain their families are already suffering.
When I have information that can be verified, I will pass it along to you.
All that aside, it presents an opportunity to remind everyone – teens and adults alike ‑ of the dangers of driving in poor weather conditions.
It doesn’t matter how experienced you are behind the wheel, things can get out of control literally in the blink of an eye.
There is a whole lot of winter driving ahead of us, so let’s remember to be careful out there.